The iconic segment, which occurs at the end of the show’s opening credits, is a running gag featuring variations on the family sitting down on their couch to watch TV, and is usually a place where much of The Simpsons‘ more surreal humour can be found (with most regular episodes choosing to keep fairly ‘realistic’ plotlines). For the first time in the show’s long history, though, a lucky fan will be able to decide what happens in the clip, with a ‘winning entry’ expected to be broadcast in May 2013 with the season finale.

The ideas (which need to be entered in under 100 words on the official website of the show), will likely create a wide selection from which the producers can choose, and will eventually add at least one more to the ‘hundreds’ of gags that have been seen across the previous 509 episodes, a list of episodes which will be increased next week with the continuation of another off-the-wall series tradition, Halloween episode Treehouse of Horror.

Additional rules of the contest state: “Your idea needs to be 2D animation; it must be 30 seconds or shorter; it can’t have dialogue; it can’t have music; it can’t have brands or commercials; it must conform to broadcast standards; and it must use all five family members. Other than that, the only limit is your imagination.”

The contest also marks a fairly rare ‘fan contest’ for the world of animated comedy, with only The Simpsons, through a recent online vote to decide the fate of characters Ned and Edna, and a controversial ‘Who Shot Mr. Burns’ contest (which drew no ‘official’ winners for the chance to be animated in a future episode) producing anything of note.

Comedy Central series South Park (which once offered a chance to be ‘animated on the show’ in a charity auction, though treated its winner as a joke throughout the episode) was the only ever animated series to try something similar, but can The Simpsons‘ latest in a line of fan interaction become the most successful for all parties? It wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see more than one entry to the ‘Couch Gag Contest’ ending up on the show, even if it ends up legally uncredited…

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